Valeros can rely on his sword arm and his friends, the mysterious and beautiful sorcerer Seoni and the silver-tongued quick-witted elven rogue Merisiel, but nothing can prepare him for the dangers that lurk ahead. The scattered and chaotic goblin tribes of Varisia are changing, growing in power and unifying in ways no one has ever seen before. At the heart of this strange evolution is an ancient evil looking to establish itself anew.

The iconic heroes at the core of the Pathfinder world are brought to life for the first time in a brand-new story full of charm and high adventure that will please fans and entertain new readers alike. Issue 1 clocks in at 40 pages, and includes more than 10 pages of character profiles and Pathfinder RPG game statistics, plus an EXCLUSIVE removable, playable tactical map and poster.

This cover variant was produced by Dynamite Entertainment specifically for the paizo.com audience, and is not available in retail stores.

Average product rating:

A fun story and a Sandpoint resource

The comic is a bit different from what you might be expecting. It's split into two sections: the comic proper and a roleplaying section.

The comic itself is fast-paced and pretty fun. The story hasn't hooked me yet, but my wife doublechecked I'd gotten the subscription last night, so we'll count that as a vote of confidence.

I was worried when I heard about the comic that it wouldn't be very "Pathfinder," but I was blown away on that front. It not only feels like Pathfinder, there are places that they're illustrating things I hadn't understood.

The art was a bit of a shock at first, because I'm used to page after page of Wayne Reynolds. It took a bit of getting used to, but I think Huerta ultimately did a good job with it.

The roleplaying section in the back includes sample characters for the core group (Seoni, Valeros, Ezren, and Merisiel). It also includes a single encounter mini-adventure related to the plot of the comic.

The real star, in my opinion, is the Sandpoint Gazetteer. It contains enough information to start a game in Sandpoint and, although you'd want to check for yourself, I think it's spoiler-free enough to share with players.

All-in-all, I'd suggest picking it up if you're interested in Sandpoint, even if you're not gung-ho about comics.

More than a Story. A Resource.

Issue #1 was fun. The artwork is wonderful and the story moves along. I like what Paizo does so well, crossing over their products to create a rich world you can immerse yourself in, even if you don't have a D&D group.

Negative: The story is shorter than expected. It's not the deepest story either, and they took no risks, but it was fun nonetheless. The female characters looked too much alike.

Pros: Great art. Added depth to the Inner Sea World. The 10 page Gazetteer at the end is fantastic! Even if the story was awful, which is not the case, this could make the purchase worth it for many people. The depiction of Sandpoint and Varisia, and the character profiles, breathed a lot of life into the story. The full page map was a bonus. These features put the comic book over the top and make it more than an extra (thin) storyline. The comic book doubles as an additional resource and that is a huge benefit.

This is one ongoing subscription that will continue for a while. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could. Good product!

Pathfinder #1 - no spoilers

I received my first comic yesterday and was pretty excited to open it and read. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. In my opinion, the anime art style was not very good:
1) The characters did not maintain a consistent look throughout the book
2) The scenes seemed way to cluttered
3) It was difficult to tell with any detail what was going on
4) One character at one point looked exactly like a certain adamantine, claw wielding, hero (who shall go unnamed)

The story was a very typical beginning to any random adventure and mostly ho hum in my opinion.

The book was put together well on quality paper etc, although mine had a couple of smudges (light spots) on the front cover.

I'm not planning on dropping the sub in hopes that as the title matures, it will increase in quality.

I just bought the Issue digital over at comixology, because I live in Germany and can't wait till mid September to have my printed version.
Even though I can't speak for the removable parts. The story alone is top class, and I wish number #2 would already be available.
The art by Andrew Huerta fits perfectly for a fantasy setting and the characters are greatly displayed, not just by art but also by the writer, Jim Zub. From those pages I must say for now Seoni is my favorite.
Also the Gazetteer part is nice, for those who know Rise of the Runelords it might not hold much new information, but it might also attract new players.